South Lafourche a contender following strong season

Brian Callais coached hoops at Thibodaux and Central Lafourche before coming to South Lafourche.

In looking at the Tarpon’s sterling record (22-4 overall and 7-1 in district through last week), it’s easy to understand why he believes he’s at the helm of one of his best teams.

Or at least his best prepared.

“We owe most of our success to our dedication throughout the summer,” Callais admitted. “The team worked hard and played well in the summer league. This gave them the confidence to start the season.”

At the beginning of the season, South Lafourche received little respect.

Despite starting 12-0 overall, the Tarpons found themselves being called pretenders. It would just be a matter of time before their luck would run out, they heard.

But preseason wins at Destrehan and Rummel proved that the Tarpons were the real deal.

South Lafourche started its district schedule with a victory over South Terrebonne, but dropped its next game against Thibodaux, 60-43.

However, the Tarpons rebounded with road wins against Terrebonne and H. L. Bourgeois and later exacted revenge in their second meeting with Thibodaux with a 67-38 dismantling.

With that, South Lafourche improved to 7-1 in the Bayou District, giving them a two-game lead over Assumption, Terrebonne and H. L. Bourgeois.

During the stretch, the hot play of Cyle Fonseca was pivotal.

The senior forward is averaging 17.2 points and three assists per game this season.

He has also accumulated 152 rebounds through 26 games and is shooting 42.2 percent from behind the arc.

“Cyle can play inside, outside, forward and down low in the post.” Callais said.

Winning district is not Callais’ top priority. First and foremost, he wants his squad to clinch a playoff berth.

“A district championship would be nice, but we want our fans to have a chance to see us in the playoffs since we haven’t been there in recent years,” he explained. “Once the playoffs start, we just have to take it one game at a time and see what happens.”

But that doesn’t mean a district championship wouldn’t be nice.

“We’re contenders. We have proven this already,” Callais said. “The kids believe. I believe. The sky’s the limit.”